by Conan Simmons – September 21, 2020 – 10:33 pm
Political turmoil increased in the United States this weekend with the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. An election looming in the near future increases the controversy around filling the seat. A new film in the weekend Top 5 may show how close the presidential election will be.
WEEKEND TOP FIVE September 18-20
- ‘Tenet’ – $4.7 million – science fiction (dropping $2 million for 30% decline)
- ‘The New Mutants’ – $1.8 million – fantasy (dropping $300k for 14% decline)
- ‘Infidel’ – $1.4 million – action adventure (premiere)
- ‘Unhinged’ – $1.3 million – action adventure (dropping $200k for 13% decline)
- ‘The Broken Hearts Gallery’ – $800k – romance (dropping $100k for 11% decline)
The total box office this weekend is $10 million, a drop of $1.5 million, 13% decline, from last weekend’s $11.5 million take.
‘Tenet’ and ‘The New Mutants’ remain at first and second place for three consecutive weeks. ‘Unhinged’ stays in the top five for more than a month and ‘The Broken Hearts Gallery’, executive produced by Selena Gomez, holds on to round out the list.
‘Infidel’ is the only new release to break into the top five this weekend. It is executive produced by Dinesh D’Souza, an Indian born Republican conspiracy theorist known for his documentary film ‘2016: Obama’s America’ released in 2012. He also made 2018’s ‘Death of a Nation’, obvious connotation with the racist film ‘Birth of a Nation’, that compares Donald Trump to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
Dinesh D’Souza is well known for denying America’s systemic racism writing that slaves were “treated pretty well”. He has publicly ridiculed school shooting survivors and been convicted of campaign finance fraud, pardoned by Donald Trump in 2018.
The star of ‘Infidel’ is Jim Caviezel, famous from ‘The Passion of the Christ’ directed by Mel Gibson. They are both currently attached to the sequel that is in development.
The current spate of political films that did not break the top five this weekend, from ‘The Way I See It’ to ‘All In: The Fight for Democracy’, could be seen as a counter point to the conservative leaning narrative of ‘Infidel’. Whether the box office performance of this film is a result of Hollywood studios giving up on the U.S. domestic theaters or is more indicative of American’s voting preference in the upcoming presidential election may not be known until November 3. Please vote.